The 50 Best Vocab Words for the ACT Essay

When taking the ACT essay section, students have 45 minutes to write a well-reasoned argumentative essay about a given prompt. The new ACT Essay prompts tend to be about “debate” topics — two sides of an issue are presented, with no obviously “right” side. Oftentimes, these subjects carry implications for broader issues such as freedom or morality. Test-takers are expected to convey some stance on the issue and support their argument with relevant facts and analysis.

In addition to some of the more obvious categories, like grammar and structure, students’ essays are also evaluated on their mastery of the English language. One way to demonstrate such mastery is through the correct usage of advanced vocabulary words. Below are 50 above-average vocabulary words sorted by the contexts in which they could most easily be worked into an ACT essay.

Context 1: Factual Support For ACT Essay

These words can easily be used when stating facts and describing examples to support one’s argument. On ACT essays, common examples are trends or patterns of human behavior, current or past events, and large-scale laws or regulations.

Insidious – proceeding in a subtle way but with harmful effects – Adj.

Myopic – short-sighted; not considering the long run – Adj.

Pernicious – dangerous and harmful – Adj.

Renegade – a person who betrays an organization, country, or set of principles – N

Stigmatize – to describe or regard as worthy of disgrace or disapproval – V

Superfluous – unnecessary – Adj.

Venal – corrupt; susceptible to bribery – Adj.

Virulent – extremely severe or harmful in its effects – Adj.

Zealot – a person who is fanatical and uncompromising in pursuit of their religious, political, or other ideals – N

Context 3: Thesis and Argument

These words are appropriate for taking a stance on controversial topics, placing greater weight on one or the other end of the spectrum, usually touching on abstract concepts, and/or related to human nature or societal issues.

Autonomy – independence or self governance; the right to make decisions for oneself – N

Conundrum – a difficult problem with no easy solution – N

Dichotomy – a division or contrast between two things that are presented as opposites or entirely different – N

Disparity – a great difference between things – N

Divisive – causing disagreement or hostility between people – Adj.

Egalitarian – favoring social equality and equal rights – Adj.

Although it’s true that vocabulary is one of the lesser criteria by which students’ ACT essays are graded, the small boost it may give to a student’s score could be the difference between a good score and a great score. For those who are already confident in their ability to create and support a well-reasoned argument but still want to go the extra mile, having a few general-purpose, impressive-sounding vocabulary words up one’s sleeve is a great way to tack on even more points.

Angela is a student at Cornell College of Engineering. At CollegeVine, she works primarily as ACT Verbal Division Manager. She enjoys teaching a variety of subjects and helping students realize their dreams.